Give Your Litter Cleaners Time and Tools

Litter cleaning takes time, a lot of it.  There is no such thing as a thorough once-over in litter cleaning.  One has to look at an area from different angles, and often be almost on top of stuff to see it.

The Litter Cleaner suspects that most workers doing litter cleaning are not given the time needed to do the job right.  They are probably not given any particular time at all; they are told to pick up all the litter and get back to normal duties.   This puts a worker under the stress of not knowing how long the boss thinks it should take to clean the lot, and makes for a quick once-over.

A litter cleaner should be given ample time to go over the lot not once, but twice, carefully.  One has to have time to look around and really see the trash.  Our subconscious protects us from ugliness and work by not letting us see it until we really want to.   Taking a second look tells it to let one see the trash, and let the joy of seeking and finding take over.

My favorite litter grabbing tool, the G4 Dot-Reacher 

Proper tools are important in creating that joy.  A broom and standing dustpan are standard equipment, but a dot litter grabber and a bucket are far easier to use except where there is a lot of small stuff in one place on pavement, which is relatively rare.  The grabber also excites our love of gadgets, and easily gets trash out of places that a broom cannot, saving a lot of bending.

A very large lot with a lot of traffic, like Walmart, Fred Meyer, or Home Depot, should be patrolled by one or more litter cleaners during business hours.  All workers should clean up litter and thereby learn to neither drop it nor leave it, and management would benefit from a good look at the condition of the grounds once in a while.  A worker should periodically clean litter all day, with most employees doing a litter cleaning day on a rotating basis.

The same goes for parks and golf courses, along with having a few more tools and a cart to carry them: litter grabber; bucket; broom; dustpan; a battery blower; extra battery; cobweb duster, and trash bags, using the cart only for transporting the tools and supplies and charging batteries.  One should park the cart and clean an area thoroughly, then move the cart to the next area. 

My Black and Decker 18 V surface sweeper.  There are many battery blowers

Blowers are for natural detritus only, with litter picked up or swept before blowing.  All pavements should be blown and/or swept off at least once a month, more often in flower or leaf fall.  Detritus makes great mulch on soil but is ugly in the gutters.

Parking lots are where the most litter gathers.  Shelters also have lots of litter, as do playgrounds, picnic tables and benches.  One has to get off the regular paths and look for places in the trees where people hide their sex, drug use, and camping.  The riverside has litter left by fishermen and people enjoying the water, and occasional campers.

Smaller businesses with lots of traffic, like convenience stores, bars, and restaurants, need litter cleanup several times a day, with ample time to cover the lot twice.  All businesses should do litter cleanup at least twice a day, before and after business.  Set a minimum, not a maximum time limit to do the job right.